Findings of a survey about drug and alcohol abuse education are summarized and contrasted with 5 years earlier. Notable improvements were found, reflected in required teaching hours, percentage of total required hours, elective courses, and number of affiliated clinical programs. The effect of a career teacher is also evaluated. (Author/MSE)

The notion that medical education is a rigidly structured system, consisting of a few, relatively fixed patterns leading to different career outcomes, was not supported in this study using data from the Association of American Medical College's Longitudinal Study. Evidence was found of stratification among structural factors that influence access…

Personality changes in a sample of 49 women physicians were measured by psychological tests and interview procedures. They suggested greater effectiveness in work and achievements, more introspection, more certainty about goals, more awareness and acceptance of traditional role demands, and less striving for success and need to impress others.…

A followup study of predictions made based on psychiatric tests and psychological interviews of medical students in the 1940s found that neither the interviews nor the tests predicted the participants' mental or physical health or their occupational or marital adjustment as of 1982. (MSE)

A study of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine's preparatory program, designed to assist minority and educationally disadvantaged students to prepare for admission to and success in medical and dental schools, shows that 87 percent of graduates admitted to medical school had graduated from or were in school. (MSE)

To demonstrate poor patient compliance, medical students who preregistered for a conference on patient compliance were asked to adopt the role of "patient" and to take "medication" (Vitamin C) for one week, to observe certain dietary restrictions, and to complete an attitude and health beliefs questionnaire. Student attitudes resembled those of…

The "fifth pathway" program permits a year of clinical training in the U.S. for the American foreign medical school graduate (FMG) under the supervision of an American medical school. This follow-up study examined the quality of fifth pathway programs and students in New York. (Editor/LBH)

The effectiveness of an educational program in decreasing utilization of the prothrombin time determination as a routine admission laboratory test by house staff physicians at a teaching hospital was studied. The results emphasize the need to measure the long-term outcome of educational programs aimed at modifying the clinical behavior of…

An experiential program designed to attract minority students to health careers and to affect the supply and distribution of health manpower in a medically underserved area is described. A six-year follow-up study of participants and a matched comparison group of nonparticipants indicate the value of the program. (Author/MLW)

Medical educators seldom ascertain whether their teaching efforts have long-term effects. To assess the persistence of attitudes toward drug claims by industry, members of two medical classes in the pharmacology course at the University of Virginia School of Medicine were surveyed at graduation and again nine to ten years later. (Author/MLW)

To evaluate a residency training program, a survey was conducted of those persons who took their residency training in psychiatry at the George Washington University during the first 20 years of the program. The questions elicited background information about the alumni, their perceptions and use of their training, and their satisfaction with…

The teaching of the pelvic examination is seen as having undergone a dramatic change since the introduction of trained professional patient-instructors. The results of a study using two groups, the professional patient-instructor method in one group and a control group using gynecologists and clinic patients, is presented. (MLW)

Changes in attitudes of first-year medical students after a seminar on aging and health are described. Students' attitudes toward the elderly were assessed before and one year after the seminar. Factors in changing attitudes were: factual information, personal contact with sick and well elderly, and personal contact with role models. (Author/MLW)